Our tour took us from Klaipeda, Lithuania, to Riga, Latvia, via two very interesting stops. The first was a Cold War Museum located in an underground bunker built in a forest outside of the town of Plateliai, Lithuania, by foreign workers to ensure no one knew where the installation was located.
We were fortunate to have a “real” guide, but there is also an audio guide available. The base opened in 1962 and stood ready to launch a nuclear missile until 1978. It is both sobering and scary to stand in a silo where a nuclear warhead once stood, ready to wipe out any city in Europe on the order from the leader of the Soviet Union.
With over 100,000 crosses, the Hill of Crosses, located outside of Siauliai, Lithuania, is an amazing monument to the determination of the Lithuanian people for religious freedom. Crosses started appearing around the 1831 Uprising to honor those who died in war and continued as a protest against Soviet religious repression—despite the fact that Soviets destroyed the crosses at least three times. We even found a Star of David as people from various religions were fighting for their right to worship as they wanted. Before going up to the Hill of Crosses, our fantastic guide, Marius, provided us with background information on the significance of the crosses which made the visit much more meaningful—we are always glad to have great guides that provide us with so much information.
We arrived in Riga which is located on the Gulf of Riga off the Baltic Sea. It is the largest capital in the Baltics. The city was established in 1201 and, thankfully, City Hall Square was the only square totally destroyed during WWII. Therefore, many of the buildings are the originals. We had time to walk around and explore on our own before dinner at one of the many sidewalk cafes.
Our first full day in Riga was spent viewing the Art Nouveau district and Old Town. (We took the tram. Tickets can be purchased at the Narvesan shops.) The buildings are magnificent. One featured two faces that changed from men to women as we walked by. We saw only a small portion of the 800 Art Nouveau buildings, but we saw many of the best as we were guided through the town and onto Alberta Street, an open-air Art Nouveau museum featuring the multi-storied apartment buildings constructed in the style.
We then visited Old Town where we had wandered the night before. (Our hotel, the Metropole Hotel by Semarah, was conveniently located within walking distance to the Old Town and on the tram line.)
The Old Town is a treasury of medieval buildings and churches that earned it a place on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. Like most of the Baltic states, Riga fell under the rule of multiple people, German, Swedish, Polish, Russian, and the Soviets since its founding in 1201. The Old Town is actually on an island with the city canal marking its boundaries. Fascinatingly, part of the canal was the original moat around the town walls.
Many of the churches have changed their religion multiple times over the years, but churches, in general, are not topped by traditional crosses, but by roosters. These birds served as weathervanes for the city whose residents survived because of the sea. The color of the weathervane, black or golden, showed whether or not the fisherman should go to sea that day. We visited three of the churches including the Riga Dome Cathedral, St. Peter’s Church which provides a wonderful view of the town from its tower, and St. Jacob’s Church. (We later attended an organ concert in the cathedral—a great way for the church to earn money for repairs.)
The House of the Blackheads is one of the most impressive buildings in Old Town. Built in 1334 as a warehouse for merchants, it was later used by unmarried foreign merchants in the Hanseatic League. They called themselves Blackheads because their patron saint was St. Maurice, a black Egyptian. Many of the buildings around this square, including the House of the Blackheads, were destroyed in WWII, but they were later reconstructed. St. Peter’s Church was destroyed 8 times between WWI and WWII but was also rebuilt.
After learning more about the various buildings in Old Town, we ventured to the Central Market, one of the largest in Europe. The immense building in which it is housed was originally for zeppelin storage. We enjoyed wandering through the aisles and looking at all the amazing offerings. (I couldn’t pass up the dark red cherries that proved to be luscious.) We had lunch at the market at one of the food stalls—a great way to sample some local products.
Later, we wandered back to the Old Town. We were surprised as a party bike, powered by a group of men attending a bachelor’s party, passed us singing, “Sweet Caroline.” I never knew the song was so universal! Riga has advertised heavily for the British market with seeming success. Because of the commercialism, fewer people from Riga still live in the Old Town whereas in Vilnius, most of the residents are Lithuanian. We ate at another café, this one with live music. The atmosphere was different from Vilnius, but equally lovely.
On our second full day we visited a family-owned goat farm in Licisi where we had the opportunity to visit with the family, milk a goat, prepare and eat a traditional meal, see how they make cheese, and concoct marinated goat cheese to take with us. It was so interesting to hear their stories. One fact that I had never considered was that, in Soviet times, no one wanted to smile because smiling would make them stand out as different. What a sobering thought to us as smiling Americans.
In the afternoon we visited the Salaspils Memorial, originally built by the Nazis to contain political prisoners, but it was extended to hold Latvian and Lithuanian police who were against the Nazis, and then for people from multiple other places including Russia. It was officially a work camp, but became known as a concentration camp due to the high death rate from diseases, executions, starvation, etc. Over 2,000 died in the camp, but another 1,000 Jews died while being forced to build it.
The memorial was built in 1967 during Soviet occupation. The large concrete opening leading to the field was built to signify the heaviness and soberness of the place and is marked with the words, “Beyond these gates, the land groans.” Marks on the wall show how many days prisoners were confined there in the 30 barracks. The large concrete statues show many things including a woman humiliated (woman kneeling), a protest (man saluting), mothers and children who perished (woman and child) and unbroken spirit (leaning on the soil. As visitors go through the field, they feel and hear a heartbeat in the distance that reminds visitors that life goes on.
After the sobering visit to Salaspils Memorial, we drove to the Rumbula Memorial where 24,000 Jews from the Riga Ghetto were exterminated in two days--November 30, 1941 and December 8, 1941--in the forest of Rumbula. Additionally, approximately 1,000 Jews, brought by train from Germany, were killed. People were forced to walk into the forest, strip to their underwear, walk further into the forest, and then, ten per time, lay in trench pits where they were shot in the back of their heads. The memorial complex was completed in 2002. Two plaques, with inscriptions in multiple languages, tells the story of this horrific, hate-filled event. Stone columns and stars of David line the path along which the Jews were forced to march to their tragic murder. In the center is a huge menorah, above stones with the names of the executed on them.
We were fortunate to be travelling on St. John’s Day which is a big feast day in Riga. Our tour director, Marius, took us to Dzeguzkalns Park where those from Riga celebrate the day. (Another of the numerous perks of having a tour director who shares a lot of the extras! We have been very fortunate to have great tour directors through the years.) We were able to enjoy the traditional singing, dancing, beer and caraway cheese. (You have to chew every caraway seed in the cheese for best luck.) We left many hours before the festivities were scheduled to end--at dawn--to return to our hotel for our next day’s journey to Tallinn, Estonia.
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For our adventures in Klaipeda, Lithuania, click here.
To see our journey in Vilnius, Lithuania, click here.
